It All Fades
by malvagita
Summary: What happens when a new boy moves in, what will change forever? Completely AU, high school fic.
1. The Beginning

_A/N: Yep don't own a thing. Don't claim to either. But yeah. Have fun and r/r please! _

She didn't mind being popular; nope she didn't mind it at all. It was annoying sometimes, to have people talking about everything you did, copying you and everything, but sometimes it was great. She had the boyfriend, she had the friends, and she had the money. It all seemed like everything was going good for Sydney Bristow.

Junior year would start in a week, she and her two friends, Francie and Will would start the new year, the popular people, just as they had the year before; together. And it would be great. Sydney was the most popular girl in the school, even as a junior. She found that she could do generally anything and it would not change. Guys wanted her, girls wanted to be her. She liked it, but it was empty, her boyfriend, Michael Vaughn was a senior, and would be graduating this year.

She wasn't in love with him, sure they had started dating last year, but she didn't seem them together forever, it just wasn't in the cards for them, no matter how much he wanted it to be. He kept telling her that they would be together forever, and Sydney just went along with it.

Sydney lived with her nanny, her father was always away on business and her mother died in a car accident when she was six. They lived in the wealthier part of town, and they lived in a huge house. One bigger than needed, but her father had wanted them to live there. It was rather funny actually, Sydney would have parties, the one's that everyone wanted to go to, and her nanny didn't care and her father never cared. It was great, she and her nanny got along great, and she was like a mother to the girl.

Sydney went to a rather large private school, but not a catholic one. It looked like a regular school only it was much nicer. They didn't have a dress code or anything, she liked it.

It was about a week before school started when someone moved into the house next to her. The moving trucks came on a Saturday, early in the morning, when Sydney was getting back from her jog. She was down by her mailbox as a black limo came rolling up the driveway. She watched as a short old woman came out, followed by a taller boy who looked to be her age, and had gorgeous blonde curls.

Sydney watched as he took off the glasses he wore and stuffed them into his pocket. He looked around and spotted her standing there, stretching.

"Hi," he called out in a wonderfully British voice, one that almost made her knees melt.

"Hello," she said politely as he walked over to her.

"I'm Julian," he told her, flashing her a smile, holding out his hand.

"I'm Sydney," she told him as she put her hand in his. He took her hand and brought it up to his lips, eyes never leaving his, and kissed it.

"Pleasure," he said as he dropped her hand. She smiled at him.

"Pleasure's all mine," she told him, looking up at his house. "Are you going to go to school here?"

"Yes, unfortunately, I will be starting Westwood Academy in a week," he said disdainfully.

"I go there," she said, not at all happier about school than he was. "It's not that bad," but she didn't say because she was the popular group.

He looked at her skeptically, "Is that right?" He looked at her for a minute, and then shrugged. "But you must be one of the popular girls, am I right?" He grinned when she nodded, "Yeah see, you've got it easy. I'm the new kid, damn new kids." He said shaking his head.

"What grade are you going to be in?"

"Eleventh," he told her, "you?"

"Same, so you should stick with me, I'll show you everything you need to know." He smiled at her, they were hitting it off and both of them knew they were going to become good friends.

* * *

A week later thy found themselves staring up at the stone building that was Westwood Academy. Julian looked like he wanted to kill someone, and Sydney looked annoyed at all the people who came up to her and tried to start conversations.

"You really weren't lying when you said you were popular," Julian remarked sarcastically in her ear.

"Nope," she shook her head, looking almost sad. "But whatever, come on," she grabbed his hand and dragged him down the walkway and into the main building. She didn't notice Vaughn watching her with a group of his friends from the other side of the lawn.

He had been put into classes, and funny enough, he had every one of them with Sydney. She laughed when he showed her his schedule, "I think you could be stalking me," she told him playfully.

"Maybe I am," he said mysteriously and winked at her as they walked to their first period. Halfway there Michael came and stood next to her, shooting a glare at Julian and wrapping his arm tightly around Sydney's waist. She rolled her eyes at Julian then smiled and Michael.

"Hey baby," he said kissing her rather forcefully, putting on a show for Julian, who tried to look away. Sydney pushed him away.

"What was that for?" She asked him, angry that he was playing the over possessing boyfriend role again. She hated it when he did that; he hadn't done it since she had broken up with Noah.

"What? I'm just saying hey to my girlfriend," he said angrily and dropped his hand from her waist.

"Well then say hi some other way," she snapped at him before grabbing Julian's arm and storming off down the hall. " I swear, I hate him sometimes," she grumbled as they walked into their first period class.

"I dunno I though he was rather charming," Julian told her, laughing as she shot him a glare.

She sighed and sat down at one of the tables, pulling him down next to her, "Oh, welcome to my life," she said to him sarcastically as three girls walked up to her. It sounded to Julian like a chorus of "Ohmigod Syd! I haven't seen you all summer! How was it?"

He felt very sorry for her; he would wind up killing someone if they acted like that around him. And when she sat down she looked like she could kill someone. "I hate the first day of school," she grumbled and put her head down.

"Awl, I'm sure it won't be like that all day," he said and patted her back.

"Wanna bet?" Was the muffled reply.

"Sure," he said grinned. She sat up at looked at him. "I'll bet you ten bucks says that no one else for the remainder of the day comes up to you like that." She grinned and took his outstretched hand.

"Fine, ten bucks says someone will," She shook his hand and laughed.

Just then the teacher came in, "Welcome to English Lit," she said in a gruff voice, everyone turned their attention to the board. "My name is Ms. Anders," she nodded to a few of the people who were looking at her. "This class isn't hard, if you do the work," and she went on.

Sydney was looking down at her phone, playing some game on it, and Julian was doodling in his notebook. Neither of them really knew what she was talking about, but it was the first day of school so how much could she have to say?

She had put her phone away and then jumped when it vibrated in her pocket. Pulling it out she found she had an incoming text message.

It was Michael. She would answer if later, she decided and stuffed it back into her pocket, turning everything off so she wouldn't feel it when someone called her again.

When the bell rang she and Julian gathered their papers and walked out of class. Suddenly, it was if everyone had gotten over their tiredness, a group of girls came running up to Sydney, again with the "Ohmigod! How _are_ you Syd! I haven't seen you in such a long time!" Julian sighed, lost that bet.

Once it was over she walked up to him and grinned, "I believe you owe me ten bucks," she said holding out her hand.

Sighing he shook his head and reached into his pocket, pulling out his wallet, "Fine, but I promise you, next bet, I'll win," he told her as he handed her the money.

"Maybe," she said and her grin got wider. "Maybe not," she stuck the money in her pocket as he stuck his tongue out at her.

"Having fun?" Michael asked from behind them, sounding angry. He glared at Julian before turning to Sydney, "You never answered me." He was talking about the text message he had sent her earlier.

"Oh yeah!" She cried, and then pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, "I need to read that." She said, concentrating on the phone and finding his message. "Do you want to go to Will's party tonight?" She read aloud. "Wait, Will's having a party?" She looked up baffled, and starting looking around the hallways.

"Yeah," Michael said, sounding a tad angry.

The bell rang; they had ten minutes to get to their next class. Sydney looked at Michael and shook her head, "I need to find out about this party first," she said and then grabbed Julian by the arm and walked down the hallway. Leaving Michael to stare at their backs.

They ran into Will and Francie going into their next class. They did the whole hugging thing, but it was much more natural, no squealing.

"So, Syd," Will started putting his arm around Francie, they had been dating since ninth grade. "I'm having this part tonight. You're gunna come, right?"

Sydney rolled her eyes, "Of course I'm coming!" She told him, shaking her head, "You should know that." Will's parties were rivals to her parties. No one could decide which ones were better, and since Sydney and Will were best friends it didn't matter.

"You going with Vaughn?" Francie asked, Sydney could hear the disdain in her voice. Francie didn't like Vaughn all that much, but Sydney had never listened, until recently that is.

"Meh," she shrugged, and then looked at Julian. "I forgot to introduce you, guys this is Julian. Julian this is Francie and Will." She smiled as she changed the subject. She didn't want to talk about Vaughn, not right now. She would talk to Francie later, at lunch.

She watched as Julian shook hands with Will and nodded at Francie. The bell rang and they all found their seats, "I love study halls!" Will said and yawned before putting his head down. Francie rolled her eyes and patted his head. The four of them were sitting at on of the tables. The teacher came in but didn't say anything, this was, after all, a study hall, and the teacher didn't really appear to care who was here or not.

Sydney pulled out her cell phone as Francie began to question Julian. She sent him a text asking where he was.

There was a quick reply that told her he was in a study hall as well. She replied quickly by telling him to meet her outside the gym.

Sydney stood up and walked to the head of the class. "Can I use the restroom?" She asked the teacher nicely, who like many other teachers adored Sydney and let her do whatever she wanted. After obtaining the hall pass she walked out of the room ignoring the look Francie was giving her.

Vaughn was waiting for her when she got to the gym. He leaned up against the wall as if it wasn't the middle of class and he had all the time in the world. "Hey, beautiful." He said as she approached, quickly leaning down to kiss her. It would have gone smoothly if she hadn't moved her head to the side so his lips fell against her cheek instead. "What?" The last time she had done that she had been incredibly mad at him.

"Michael, we need to talk," she said, after a moment. This was bad, she never called him Michael, but he didn't seem to be getting the hint that this was serious.

"Alright," he said crossing his arms, and grinning at her. "What's up?"

"I-" she paused and looked down. "I think we should break up."

Michael didn't say anything, just stared at her. She watched as the grin on his face slowly faded away into nothing. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me, Michael." She said quietly, hoping he would understand. "Things have been differently lately, and I think it would be better if we didn't date."

"Like hell," He said angrily. Standing up straighter he saw that she was serious. "You'll be nothing without me, you know," he told her threateningly. "You won't be popular, just Michael Vaughn's waste."

That made her angry, she had been popular even before she had begun to go out with him. "Yeah because you dumped me. Oh yes, way to listen Michael. God, you are so arrogant." She shook her head and begun to walk away.

"You're making a mistake," he yelled after her. She just turned her head and smiled. He watched her walk away, getting madder and madder. Suddenly he spun around and punched the brick wall.

She walked back into class with a sad smile on her face. After throwing away the hall pass at the front of the room she headed back to her seat next to Julian. Turning to Francie she smiled, "In answer to your question, I will not be going to the party with Michael." She said before settling back into her seat.

Francie understood this to mean that she had just broken up with him, but she knew she would get the details later. Instead she just grinned and laughed when Julian frowned, very confused.

"Hey, you should come," she said to him. "It's going to be fun."

"I don't know," he replied hesitantly. "I mean, I wouldn't know anyone, but you all."

"You could go with me?" Sydney offered. "I need a date, and you're cute." She said, feeling very unlike herself today. She usually wouldn't have said that but today she felt really good.

She laughed as she saw Julian's cheeks redden a bit. "Sure," he managed to say as Sydney looked at Francie who was smiling at her.

* * *

Just as Sydney had thought the news of her break-up with Michael was all around the school by lunch. Guys were coming up to her and telling her that if she ever needed a shoulder to cry on she could come to them, or a date. Girls were sending her sympathy glances, and a few were sending her glares.

She ignored them all as she went to go sit at her usual table. Julian followed her and they found Francie, Will and a few other of her friends sitting there already. She smiled at them as she sat next to Francie and Julian sat on the other side of her. Close to her, as if he was scared, she had known him for about a week and she already liked him.

She was just about to ask him something when Lauren Reed came up to her. Lauren was one of the girls that Sydney absolutely hated. She didn't hate many people, but she really hated Lauren. "Is it true you broke up with Michael?" She asked, as if she wanted to make sure it was true. Lauren had been after Michael for as long as Syd could remember, so she figured that she was going to make her move now.

Sydney rolled her eyes and nodded, "Yes Lauren, I broke up with him," she said dully, wanted to get her away.

Lauren sneered "Well, then." She said before she walked away. Sydney muttered something that Julian couldn't understand before she smiled.

"So, what's up?" She asked the table, still smiling that Lauren had gone away.

"Nothing," they all answered her at once.

"You're still coming to the party tonight, right?" Asked Jenny, another one of Sydney's friends.

"Of course!" She exclaimed, like she wouldn't go to a party at Will's, duh. "I even have a date," she grinned at Jenny then looked at Julian who was smiling.

"Damn, girl, get over things quickly don't ya?"

"It's not like everyone wasn't expecting it." She looked around at the cafeteria, most of it was whispering and shooting her table looks. "Well, those of you who know me, that is." She said shaking her head at all the gossipers. "Moving on," she said and smiled.

A while later the bell rang and Julian had fit in like he had always been there, it was nice he was usually the outsider.

* * *

It was the end of the day, they had gotten through all of their classes, and hadn't fallen asleep, almost, Sydney almost fallen asleep and would have if hadn't been for Julian, who poked her awake.

They sat in his car, because living next door to each other they figured that instead of both driving he would just save her the trouble and picked her up, and they went together. Before he pulled out of the parking lot he looked up at the school, "Well, that wasn't all that bad," he told her.

"One hell of a first day," she grinned and leaned back into her seat. "I think you'll fit in just fine here." She told him smugly as he sped out of the parking lot. Sydney saw Vaughn watching them, but didn't stare; she was glad that she wasn't with him anymore. He was controlling, and needy and tiresome. Now she was free do date whomever she wanted. And she would.

Julian, who was a very fast driver, cut the time from school to their homes in half. "Drive fast much?" She joked as she opened her door to get out of the car. She didn't get out though she just sat there.

"Well, I get there faster," he shrugged. "So about this party thing tonight," he started.

"You don't have to go if you don't want to," she said quietly, but she really wanted him there.

"No, I want to go," he seemed to pick up on that fact and would go. "When do you want me to pick you up?"

She grinned, "8:30," she said as she got out of the car. Turning back she smiled at him, "See ya," she said then walked up the driveway into her house, grinning like anything. And it was a smile that matched his own.

* * *

Sydney stared at her closet then looked at her clock, 7:45, _damnit_, she thought, she only had a little while before Julian would get there, and she had no idea what to wear. Grabbing her phone off of her dresser she called Francie. "_Hello?" _

"Fran, what am I supposed to wear?" God, it sounded like she was going on a date, which she kinda was, since she technically had asked Julian to go with her.

"_I don't know," _Francie answered, not much help. "_Because I'm having the same problem."_

"Oh, well then," she paused, "bah!" Sydney frowned.

"_Look, I still have to take a shower, so I'll see you tonight. And I'm sure anything you wear you'll look great in. You always do."_

"Thanks, you too. Bye!" Sydney said before she hung up the phone and threw it on her bed. Looking back at her closet she shook her head and then grabbed random hangers.

Walking over to her bed she laid them on the bed. Spreading them out she found she had pulled out three skirts, five shirts, one dress and a few pairs of jeans. It helped to have options.

A little while later she had put the dress back and two shirts. But she still didn't know what she was going to wear.

Glancing at the clock she saw that she had about ten minutes. She ran to the bathroom, in an attempt to put some make-up on. She had gotten good at putting make-up on in about five minutes so she walked back out into her room all done up, now all she needed was something to wear.

And that's when the doorbell rang. _Great timing,_ she though. She had to pick a guy that would be on time. She listened as Annie opened the door and welcomed Julian. Annie had invited him in and then called up to Sydney.

"I'll be down in a minute!" She yelled back, opening her door a little. Rolling her eyes she walked back over to her bed. She grabbed the black skirt and pulled off her jeans, slipping it on. Next she pulled off her shirt and slipped on the blouse that she had picked out, it was spaghetti straps a black base and a see-through cover with flowers painted on it. She checked herself in the mirror before shaking her head and taking off the skirt, switching it to a pair of dark jeans.

She slipped into her shoes, black flip flops, because she didn't have time to find any other pair. As she ran out the door she grabbed her purse and on the way down made sure that her cell phone was in there. She looked up when she got to the bottom of the stairs and smiled. "Hey,"

Julian was looking at her with awe. He thought she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, but he wasn't going to say that. Instead he smiled, "Hello."

Sydney walked over to Annie and gave her a hug, "We'll be back!" She told her, not when, just that she would be, and she had done this enough times for Annie to be able to trust her.

Sydney took the arm that Julian offered her as hey walked outside to his car. "You look amazing," he told her, and she blushed a bit.

"Thank you," she said, glad that all her stressed efforts turned out for the best. He held the door for her as she got into the car, and then rushed around to his side, settling in before he stared the car.

"I'm glad you decided to come with me," she told him suddenly, turning to look at him.

"I'm glad I did too," he told her truthfully as he pulled out of her driveway.

They both stayed remotely silent for the rest of the trip, only talking to ask/tell where they were heading.

About twenty minutes later they ended up in front of a big house. "This is it," she said happily as he parked the car on the curb. Before she got out she turned to him and grinned, "This is where all the fun happens," she told him and then they both got out of the car.

She took his hand as they walked up to the door. "Ready?" She asked him, watching as he looked around the house and gulped.

"Yeah, let's go."


	2. The Party

_A/N: Not mine. Well, the characters. But the storyline is. r/r please! And enjoy! _

Music assaulted their ears as the front door of the house opened to reveal a mass of students sitting around, dancing to the music or drinking out of plastic cups. Julian subconsciously gripped Syd's hand tighter as she led him through the throng of people.

She stopped in front of her group of friends, who all yelled their greetings to both of them, because even though it was the first day that Julian had been there, Sydney's friends had adopted him into their group. He watched as Sydney kissed Francie on the cheek and whispered something into her ear.

"So, now that you're here we can get the party rolling," Will said laughing, coming up to stand behind Francie. "I don't know how many damn sophomores have come up to me asking me if you were here yet." Julian watched as he and Syd both made a face to which the rest of them laughed at.

"Don't you know that it's not a party if Sydney Bristow isn't there," she said in a mockingly serious voice, the tone implying that they should all know that. All of them laughed, and she smiled. "Either there or throwing it," she shrugged, stepping a bit closer to Julian.

Looking around the room Sydney spotted Vaughn standing with a group of his friends, he was staring at her, "Figures," she muttered and gave him the once over before turning her attention back to her friends.

"I don't think I've ever seen this many people here before," Francie told them all, looking around.

"It's the first party of the year," Sydney explained to Julian. "Usually it isn't this big," she shrugged, "But this is great, they only get bigger as the year goes on."

Julian gave her a smile and she thought that she would melt right there. God that was an amazing smile. She noticed Francie looking at her funny and blushed, "wanna get something to drink?" She asked him, smiling back at him, and without waiting for an answer he pulled her away from the laughing Francie and over to a table with sodas and water on it. Not to mention a bowl of strange looking 'punch'.

They both took a soda, laughing when they saw that they had the same one. Turning back to lean on the side of the table he looked at Sydney who was struggling to open her tab. "Here," he said and pulled the can away from her, opening it with ease before handing it back.

"I could never do that," she laughed taking a sip.

"Well, now you have me," he told her, opening up his own can. She chuckled and nodded.

"I guess I do," she said, laughter in her eyes. "I'm glad you came with me," she told him, still smiling. Was it his imagination or did she step closer.

He was now looking down at her, as she was rather short, it looked like they were going to kiss, but movement out of the corner of her eye startled her into pulling away and looking to see what was wrong.

Michael and Will were wrestling on the floor. Sydney gasped and ran over to where the fight was, Julian pushing his way after her. They easily moved out of the way for them, Sydney walked over to where Francie was frantically trying to get them to stop.

"He said something about you, Syd," she said, tears in her eyes. Not because Will was defending her, but because her boyfriend was in a fight. Julian noticed this, and decided that he needed to help.

He and another boy managed to pry the two off each other, Julian holding Will and the other boy holding Vaughn, keeping them away from each other. Sydney came up to stand in between them, "You want to tell me what happened?" She asked Will angrily after shooting Michael a very angry look.

"He was calling you a whore, right behind me, making it sound like you slept around," Will yelled, still trying to get back at Vaughn.

"Is that true?" She turned on Vaughn, the room was deathly silent, and it was never like that.

"Maybe," he shrugged nonchalantly.

"I can't believe you," she yelled at him, "I wouldn't even sleep with you!" She yelled, not caring that everyone was listening, "it doesn't make sense that I wouldn't sleep with my own boyfriend, of two years, had I been such a slut." She screamed at him, Francie was standing behind her, her arms crossed and staring Vaughn down.

Vaughn didn't have anything to say, instead he shrugged off the hands that her holding his arms and turned, stalking out the doors, his dim-witted jock friends trailing behind him, reluctant to leave the party.

Sydney was finally aware that all eyes were on her. Spinning around she looked at the crowd of people, "You can go back to the party now," She said angrily as she stormed out of the room and out a back door, Francie following her.

Julian had let go of Will the moment he had stopped fighting him. "Thanks, man," Will said, nodding to Julian.

"Yeah," Julian answered, casting a glance out to where the girls had gone.

"Come on," Will said and started to walk out towards the door. Julian followed quickly, wanting to be with Sydney.

They found the two girls out in the gazebo, sitting close to each other, their heads bent together and they were whispering.

Will walked up to them and sat down on the other side, "I'm sorry, Syd," he said softly, making the two girls jump. They both looked up with sad eyes, Sydney only nodded and Francie got up to sit next to her boyfriend, who put an arm around her and pulled her tighter.

Julian wandered over and sat close to Sydney, "It's alright," she sniffed, sounding like she had been crying. Suddenly she surprised them all by laughing, "We haven't even gotten through the first day without a fight," she said, giggling.

After it was stated the dismal mood was broken and they were all laughing.

"We've set a record," Francie said, "But if you ever are the one to break that record, I, personally, will kill you," he smacked him in the chest, making them all laugh again, and Will hold his chest where is beloved girlfriend had smacked him rather hard.

"Great way to start off the new year," Julian remarked sarcastically. "I think I might like it here after all," he added and grinned.

The three of them nodded, "And it can only get more interesting from here," Sydney and Francie told him at the same time, like they said it all the time, and then burst out laughing.

Will shook his head at the two and Julian just chuckled.

Inside the music was turned up louder and Sydney shrugged, "Let's go back to the party," she said quietly and stood. Francie and Will opted to stay there, some alone time, so Sydney held out her hand for Julian, which he took, and lead their way back inside.

Sydney had assured him that she was all right, but he could see that she was still upset about the fight.

When they got back inside nothing stopped, but Sydney could feel people looking her over, not even trying to hide the fact that they were talking about her and what had happened.

"Where'd I put my drink?" She muttered, sounding annoyed, which caused Julian to laugh. When she sent him a questioning look he shook his head.

"After all that," he waved his hand over the mass of people, "You are worried about where you put your soda." He shook his head and started laughing again.

"Very funny," she told him, hitting his arm lightly, even though she was beginning to laugh herself.

They went back to the refreshments, Sydney wanting a new drink. Again, he opened it for her, and hand it to her, their hands brushing.

Just then, Sydney's mood dropped. Not because she was sad. No. Lauren had decided to show up. "Hi," she cooed to Julian, ignoring Sydney.

"Hello," Julian replied frowning.

"I was just noticing you looked lonely." She remarked snidely. And Julian looked down and chuckled. Seeing that Sydney was getting furious.

Casually he slid him arm around her waist and pulled him closer to her. "Nope, not lonely," she said as he kissed Sydney's cheek, making her grin. "You however do look lonely."

Lauren stared at Sydney, for the first time. The let out an angry sound and turned to go away, Sydney's voice stopped her. "Oh Lauren?"

"What?" She demanded as she turned around.

"I'm sorry you can only get sloppy seconds, but I'm sure Michael would be happy to see you. He seems to like hanging out with sluts." Lauren stared at her for a moment before stomping off.

Sydney giggled and Julian shook his head, grinning. "That was fun," she said, looking up at him. She sucked in breath, suddenly aware of how close they were. Apparently he had noticed as well, as he had a strange look in his eyes.

Blushing she looked down and pulled out of his grasp, putting the soda can up to her lips. "I hate her," she muttered, trying to erase her mind of what happened.

"I could tell," he remarked dryly.

* * *

A while later Julian found Sydney talking to Will and Francie out by the pool. "Hey, are you ready to go?" He asked as he stepped up to them. It was near midnight, and the party had died down. He was going to need sleep.

"Yeah," she nodded, and flashed him a smile. Hugging Francie she whispered something in her ear that made her giggle. She also gave Will a hug, and thanked him for defending her good name.

Waving she and Julian set off towards his car. They were both quiet for a while, and then Sydney spoke. "Thanks," she said quietly, "For you know, coming with me, and pulling Will off of Michael."

"Don't mention it." He told her lightly.

"Nah, I mean it. You were amazing." She smiled at him. He looked at her and smiled.

The attraction was there, but he knew that she had just gotten out of a long relationship. He could wait for her.

They reached her house, their houses really, in a matter of minutes. Damn he drives fast.

"Thanks again," she said as they sat in front of her house, not really wanting to leave each other's company.

"For you, anytime," he told her.

She made to open the car door, but stopped, turning to him she looked at him for a second. Then she did something that surprised them both. Leaning over she gave him a small kiss on the lips.

Pulling back she blushed and looked down. "See you tomorrow," she mumbled and got out of the car. She all but ran up to her front door, and left him staring after her. When she got to the door she turned around a looked at him. She smiled a bit before disappearing into the large house.

Sighing, Julian ran his fingers through his hair before backing out of her driveway and into his own.

* * *

By the next day anyone who had not been at the party now knew about what had happened. Not that it was any surprise. For being a private school it was incredibly small, and word traveled fast.

Sydney ignored the looks that people were giving her. Not that it matter much to her. She was used to it. "Welcome to my life," she muttered to Julian who was walking close behind her.

Just then, another junior girl came up to her. "Hey, Syd." She said, and fell into step with her.

Sydney tried not to roll her eyes. "Hi, Katrina." She hoped she didn't sound to bitter.

"Did you, um," Katrina frowned and scratched her head. "Did you have a good time at the party last night?"

"Yes, Kat, tons and tons." She told her, and stopped at her locker. "Damn, I forgot, I have to go meet with the principal this morning. Actually, we both do. Sorry, Kat. I'll talk to later." She threw her books down into her locker and slammed the door shut. Making Kat jump.

"Oh, okay, I'll see you later, then." She smiled at them and walked off. It was amazing how some people just never registered that she had just been incredibly rude to them.

She sighed then leaned against her locker. "Sorry. But I can't always deal with her in the morning."

Julian nodded his head and gave her a knowing smile. "Come, we have to get to first period." He said, and winked, pulling her along by her arm.

They sat down in their first period class; they found themselves to be the first people in. Looking around the room she sighed. "One more year, after this one, and I'll be free." She said, and looked at him sadly, before putting her hands down.

"Oh, now, I'm sure all year won't be this bad."

"Yeah."

Sighing he sat in his seat, and pulled it closer to her, pulling her into his arms, and let her rest her head on his shoulder. "And besides, you have me, and Francie, and Will."

She nodded and yawned.

"Tried?" He asked, and smirked, letting her go.

"Yeah, dad was there when I got home, and yelled at me for being out so late. Then I could go to bed."

"I didn't know your dad was there." He offered, not having seen his car.

"His car was in the garage," she said, as if answering his mind's question. "I didn't know he was coming home." She shrugged and then smiled as the second bell rang and people began to file into the room.

"Now starts the fun," Ms. Anders said as she walked into the classroom. "None of that first day stuff anymore." She grinned and began to hand out books. _Mice and Men, _the book that traditionally got students all worked up. And many of them, having heard about it from seniors were groaning. Not Sydney or Julian. They had already liked it.

But that really didn't matter.

* * *

The day went on and on. And everyone was glad when that final bell rang. Who the hell ever thought of starting school on a Thursday was crazy. But it was now Friday and sure enough there was some party that was being planned.

On the way to the parking lot Sydney and Julian met up with Francie and Will. "Are you going to Kat's party tonight?" Francie asked Sydney, hoping she would say no.

To her relief she shook her head. "Nah, I'm probably going to spend the night locked in my room with some movies." She shrugged and then looked around at her friends. "Wanna come over. To share the misery that is my father?" She wasn't begging, she didn't have to, Francie and Will both knew her father.

"Sure," they all chorused even though Julian had no idea what her father was like. "Come over at eight?" She told them, before they separated going into different cars.

Sydney and Julian talked about all the people at school. Sydney, knowing most everyone, told him all about the people there. It was rather humorous.

"So, you'll come tonight?" She asked him as once again they were sitting in her driveway.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," she smiled as he said this.

"Good, I'll see you tonight," she gave him a big smile and got out of the car. This time she didn't run to the door, and when she got to the door she waved at him, and then disappeared into the big house.

"Dad!" she called out as she got inside.

"In here," he called.

Rolling her eyes, "Should 'a known," she muttered as she walked into his office.

"Some friends are coming over tonight," she told him, sitting in one of the big leather chairs that sat in front of his desk.

He set down his pen and looked at her. "Have fun, I'm going to Paris tonight,"

"Business," she sid along with him and sighed. "How long will you be gone?" She asked him, trying to keep her voice from telling him that she was angry he was going away so soon.

"About a week, maybe two," it had worked, he was completely oblivious to the fact that she was angry. "I leave in an hour."

"Well, have fun." She told him, forcing a smile as she stood. "I promised Francie I would go shopping with her. So I don't know if I'll see you before you go." She walked around his desk and placed a cold kiss on his cheek. "I'll miss you." She said, and left his office stomping upstairs to drop her school things off.

She grabbed her car keeps and went back downstairs, slamming the fron door behind her, as she walked around the side of her house and went to her car. The garage had been opened, by Annie she presumed.

But it wasn't like it mattered. Opening the door she slammed it behind her. Maybe it wasn't good for a person to go driving when they were angry, or upset, a great deal. But for Sydney it was one of the only things that could calm her down.

Sighing she turned on the car and back out of the garage, and then out to the street. Her friends were coming over at eight thirty. That gave her hours before she needed to go home.

Instead of going shopping, like she had told her father, she headed in the opposite direction to the park. The park had swings. And swings were good. She used to have a swing set in her backyard, before her mother had died, and they used to play on it all the time. Then when her mother got into that accident her father had taken away the swings and gotten her a nanny.

Parking the car she made her way to the playground. She watched all of the parents chasing their kids around the park. It made her a little sad, sure, mostly as she watched the laughing fathers with their kids. Sure lots of kids didn't have their fathers, just had never known them. But she thought that was a lot easier than growing up with one, who was never home.

Sighing she sat herself on a swing, and rocked her feet back and forth. The swings were one thing that could always keep her calm. Or make her feel better. Those and running. Those were her escape, sure it probably wasn't healthy to keep things inside, but they worked for her.

Leaning her head back she began to pump her legs, making her go higher and higher. She let the tear fall, and her flyaway hair hid them from the rest of the world. She wouldn't stop until she was done crying. And she had no idea when that would be, so she kept going.

Twenty minutes later she was done. Done crying, and her legs were tired.

Stopping the swing she jumped off and made her way back to her car. "Now, shopping," she muttered to herself as she got into her car. Looking at her cell phone, she saw it was ten minutes before her dad would be leaving for the airport.

She could make it home in five. Frowning she started the car, and started to drive on the road that could either take her home, or to the mall. When she got into the intersection she looked on the road home. And there was her father, with some woman in the front seat.

She knew he had a partner who went on all these trips with him, but she never knew it was a woman. Scowling at them she tried to keep back tears as she swerved into the lane going straight and headed towards the shopping mall.

She could hate him. Or so she told herself. Yes, she could be incredibly mad at him, and was most of the time, but she could never hate him.

By the time she had reached the mall she was considerably calmer, and she felt much better.

Parking her car far from the main group of cars she started her walk towards the mall. "Better cheer up," she told herself. And then she thought of Julian. She liked him, and last night she had kissed him.

"It's certainly going to be interesting."


End file.
